One Direction Helped Me Through the Death of a Parent

"They were the little glimpse of light when all I could see was darkness."

By
Eliza Pineda

Mar 27, 2015

Eliza Pineda

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My name is Eliza and I'm 19 years old. I was kind of late to the whole One Direction bandwagon. I started liking them about three years ago. I just wanted to know who was who, to be quite honest, and I wanted to tell who was singing what part, and next thing I knew, I was googling "One Direction Funny Moments" and "One Direction Facts" and watching hours and hours worth of videos of them. And I fell in love.

I'm going to admit right now that I am a Harry girl, but when I first found out about 1D, I was 100% a Zayn girl. He just seemed so similar to me. He was shy, a bit awkward, artistic, but also quite silly once you get to know him.

When I discovered 1D, I was going through a rough patch in my life. Everything was falling apart with my family and I've never felt so alone. I had to stop school, so I couldn't even get out of the house. Most days I would just cry in my room for hours without anything to distract me from what I was feeling. Falling in love with 1D, their music, and their friendship, made me happy. The way they loved each other so much, the way they had so much fun doing what they love, and the way their dreams came true gave me hope and happiness. Going through what I was going through, they were a much needed reprieve.

Fast forward a year later, life got better, there were some changes, and I was happy. But I still very much loved them. Their friendship, and their story continued to be an inspiration to me.

Fast forward another year, and I had the worst year of my life. What I went through the first year I discovered them was nothing compared to what I experienced last year. My father passed away, and I literally didn't know what I was gonna do with my life. It was just me and my mom. And we felt so lost. Yet again, 1D was the only reprieve I got. They were the little glimpse of light when all I could see was darkness. They made me smile when I thought I couldn't.

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And fast forward to now, Zayn has left and I am devastated. I've always thought we had more time before this happened, and I always thought the boys were so solid. I understand that they will be friends for life, but it does sadden me that it wasn't enough to keep him with them. The industry is a ruthless world, but I thought that they would've been enough to keep each other grounded.

This is one of those times where you just remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard the news. I was in bed. I woke up to about a thousand tweets and messages from friends and I felt like I was still dreaming. That was absolutely the worst news to wake up to. I'm still kind of hoping it's a dream.

Right now, I'm proud of Zayn for putting his mental health and well-being first. But I'm still kind of hoping that once he has had enough time to himself, he'll miss being in the band and rejoin.

These five boys have helped me through some very rough times. People have made fun of me for being so devastated about a band member leaving because "it's just a band and bands break up all the time." But honestly, they are so much more. They have kept me strong and made me laugh in times that I thought I couldn't. You could say they were a distraction from everything, but at the same time, they inspired me to keep going. They made me believe that dreams come true, and that friendship is real. I could always count on them to make me feel better when I had bad days.

One Direction made me believe that dreams come true, and that friendship is real.

I am heartbroken about Zayn leaving the band. But I will continue to support the boys no matter what. They have helped me through tough times, and the least I can do is do that for them, too. If I am feeling devastated, then the other boys must feel 10x worse. They were a family, and it hurts to lose family. They'll still keep in touch and be friends, but I know it won't be the same. It would be like missing a leg.

But the four boys will continue on, and I will continue to be as much of a fan as I was when there were five of them. I have no doubt they will be together again. All of One Direction, all five members, and whether that's a year or five years from now, I will still be there cheering them on and singing my heart out.

I just went to their OTRA tour here in the Philippines. It was their first concert on the tour without Zayn. And I actually had the time of my life. I've been waiting for them for about three years to get here, and I was sad that Zayn wasn't there, but it was still the best concert I've ever been to.

The author shares her personal concert pics.

Eliza Pineda

Eliza Pineda is an 19-year-old reader of Seventeen. Follow her on Twitter @elizapineda.

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